Flowers and fleece...

Yesterday, me and my parents went to the grocery store to buy 55 hams. Not for us, of course, for the program we're doing at church for needy families. We've been working on getting food and presents and wrapping things, and we're making some deliveries starting tomorrow. When we were in check out (which was a very long process), there was an older lady who had been talking to Mom about what we were doing. She checked out and then handed me and Mom each a beautiful bouquet of flowers. I was surprised, thinking, what are these for? She just gave them to us because of what we were doing. She blessed us for helping others.

This morning I finished a gift for my cousin's newborn little girl. Her name is Amelia, and she will be two months old just after Christmas. We'll be keeping her, starting at the beginning of the year when her mom goes back to work. I'm really excited, because she's such a cutie pie. =) I wanted to make her something special for Christmas, but wasn't sure what. Then I remembered a book about making fleece animals, and someone we know has a copy. So I borrowed the book (called "Wild and Wonderful Fleece Animals") and decided to make a stuffed puppy. Of course, mine doesn't look exactly like the one in the book.

It was probably the hardest thing I've ever made (except for maybe one of the dresses...but it turned out a lot better than the dress). It was simple to put together, but embroidering the face details was the hardest part. I decided to embroider the eyes, too, instead of using the plastic pop-in ones, so it would be more infant-friendly and because the black eyes looked awkward against the pink. I can't tell you how many times I picked out the eye or nose stitches, the nose is too wide, and the mouth still looks a little sloppy. But for my first try, it's okay. And I'm getting an embroidery book for Christmas, which is definitely a good thing. =)

The fabric is pink fleece with white polka dots. I used Polyfill that my grandma gave me, white embroidery floss, and a pink thin Sharpie for the freckles (whiskers, whatever).

We're supposed to be getting a ton of snow this weekend. Like 8-14 inches, which is unheard of here, especially in December. We might get a few inches in January or February, but that's it. I'm still not trying to get my hopes up, because I've learned that whatever our weathermen say, the opposite usually happens. Still, a foot of snow would be absolutely lovely, not to mention give me a chance to finish all of my Christmas sewing. And we would probably have a white Christmas for the first time in my life (if the snow hung around for a few extra days, and I guess a foot would).

In other news, today I took my child psychology exam. I am officially finished with my first semester of college! It is such a relief to know that now I can sew, watch movies, whatever I want, and not feel guilty because I should be doing homework or studying. Just a few months ago, I was so stressed out and nervous about starting the community college that I thought I would never make it through the first semester. But now I have, and it really wasn't so bad at all. =)

Until next time,
Kristin (missvintagegirl)